In the language he profeffed to know, that he is laid * to have
miftaken fome characters found on a buft o f Ifis for Chinefe,
which buft and the characters were afterwards proved to be the
work o f a modern artift o f T urin, made after his own fancv. In
Great Britain we have known ftlll lefs o f the Chinefe language
and Chinefe literature than on the continent. It is not many
years ago, that one o f the fmall copper coins of China, ftamped
in the reign, and with the name, o f the late Tchien-lung (or as
he is ufually called in the fouthern dialed o f China Kien-long)
was picked up in a bog in Ireland, and being confidered as a
great curiafity, was carried to an indefatigable antiquary, whofe
refearches have been o f confiderable ufe in inveftigating the an,
cient hiftory and language o f that ¡Hand. Not knowing the
Chinefe character, nor their coin, it was natural enough for
him to compare them with fome language with which -he was
acquainted ; and the conclufion he drew was, that the four following
characters on the face were ancient Sy ria c; and that
the reverie (which are Man-tchoo letters) appeared to be aftro-
nomical, or talifmanic characters, o f which he could give no
explanation.
Face.
Tchien-lung,
Paa-tung.
po tchin.
(Emperor’s name.)
Current value.
Houfe, or dynafty, o f Tchin.
By Mr. Pauw.
The
The Man-tchoo Tartar characters o f another coin he fuppofed
to fignify p u r , which is conftrued into fo r t, or lo t ; and it
is concluded, that thefe coins muft either have been imported
into Ireland by the Phoenicians, or manufactured in the country
; in which cafe, the Irilh muft have had an oriental alpha-
bet. “ In either cafe,” it is obferved, “ thefe medals contri-
“ bute more to. authenticate the ancient hiftory o f Ireland than
“ all the volumes that have been written on the fubjeCt.”
I have noticed this circumftance, which is taken from the
ColleBanca JTtbernica, in order to Ihew how little is known o f
the Chinefe character and language among the learned, when
fo good a fcholar and eminent antiquary committed fo great a
miftake.
The youth o f China generally begin to ftudy the language
when they are about fix years o f age. Their firft employment
is to learn by name a certain number o f eafy characters, with-)
out any regard to the fignification, or without underftanding
the meaning o f one o f them, confequently, without adding to
the mind ohe fingle idea, for five or fix years, except that o f
labour and difficulty. For the name o f a character, it may be
recollected, has no reference whatfoever to its meaning. Thus
fifty-one different characters, o f as many diftinCt fignifications,
have the fame name of ching ; and i f ten or a dozen characters,
bearing the found o f ching, Ihould occur in the fame page,
the learner, in this ftage o f his education, is not inftruCted in the
feveral meanings; his objeCt is to acquire the found, but to ne-'
gleCt the fenfe. I have been told, that a regular-bred fcholar
L £ 2 it